Cape Town - The fast-tracking of operating licences and a commitment to regular meetings between the Province, the City and the leadership of Santaco Western Cape were the clinchers in a deal that saw today’s “stayaway” action by taxi operators called off.
Newly appointed Mobility MEC Ricardo MacKenzie, who brokered the accord during a 4-hour crisis meeting held at the Civic Centre, told the Cape Argus the setting-up of a task team with representatives from the Province, City and Santaco’s leadership to look into taxi issues had sealed the deal.
MacKenzie said: “The commitments made indicate a show of good faith from all sides. Through the task team, we will work together to address the challenges faced by the minibus taxi industry and ensure people can travel safely this week.
“We are partners and must continue to work together to get people to work safely and goods to markets.”
The talks attended by, among others, Premier Alan Winde, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Santaco Western Cape general secretary Elryno Saaiers, agreed that the task team would discuss fast-tracking the special regulatory process related to operating licences.
The operating licences had been top of the list of Santaco’s grievances with the City and last week, when announcing their now aborted action, complained that the City had recently lifted a moratorium on metered taxi operating licences but had imposed a 5-year moratorium on minibus taxi operating licences.
Other reasons given for the intended strike action included dissatisfaction over increased fines and the City’s continuous impoundment of minibus taxis.
Saaiers said the Santaco leadership’s decision to call off the stayaway had been helped along by the progress made at the negotiations during the meeting.
He said: “We hereby notify all operators, drivers and commuters that taxi operations will continue as usual. We thank you for your support and co-operation in striving towards a transformed transportation system.”
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said: “I’m pleased the strike is off. The new MEC did super work to get a discussion together and talk it out. I’m grateful to Santaco for being prepared to talk rather than resort to disrupting public transport.”
Mayco member for urban mobility Rob Quintas promised that the City would make a sustained effort to engage Santaco’s leadership and ensure that peaceful and proactive ways were found to address the various obstacles.
He said this would be done in the spirit of open and frank ongoing dialogue. The task team would also deal with the training of registered drivers to up-skill them in critical skills and other measures to enhance commuter safety.
After the talks, Winde said the minibus taxi industry played a critical role in citizen mobility.
“It is not just about averting this strike, which I am thrilled we have been able to achieve at a time when our economy is struggling amid Stage 6 load shedding, it is also about improving public transport, making it an economic enabler to meet the growing needs of our growing population.”
He said that in an environment faced with increasing congestion and a dysfunctional passenger rail system that is unable to ease problems in the mobility sector, the longer-term issue was how to build an integrated public transport system.
Earlier in the day, Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith had said the City was prepared for trouble in the eventuality of a stay away.
Smith said the City had rolled out a fully integrated operational plan in support of the police, with a full deployment across the metro.
He said the required budget allowances had been authorised to bring additional staff on board in an overtime capacity, with a heavy armed presence at each of the public transport interchanges, including Nyanga, Bellville, Khayelitsha, Mitchell's Plain, Philippi East, Wynberg, Cape Town and Kraaifontein.
Smith said undercover units would be monitoring strategic routes, with specially formulated response teams activated per area and that any attempt to blockade or obstruct any road or thoroughfare would result in immediate impoundment and arrest.
ANC MPL and Mobility spokesperson Lulama Mvimbi said only a genuine social compact would stabilise the minibus taxi industry.
“As the ANC we have always said that there are real issues of concern in the taxi industry in general. We have called for urgent and genuine dialogue.”
He said public transport was critical to the commuters of the province, not just in the City but in rural regions too and that it was an essential component for economic development and inclusive growth.